Heavy calibre training ammunition



is 3, 1958 F. v. FRANSSON HEAVY CALIBRE TRAINING AMMUNITION Filed Feb. 2. 1953 I -INVENTOR I FRITZ VILHELM FRANSSON United States Patent HEAVY CALIBRE TRAINING AMMUNITION Fritz Vilhelm Fransson, Saflie, Sweden Application February 2, 1953, Serial No. 334,432

2 Claims. (Cl. 102--41) The present invention refers to heavy calibre training ammunition of the kind comprising a body in the shape of an ammunition round, in which body there is centrally mounted a barrel for small arms ammunition, means being provided for transmitting the movement of the firing mechanism of a heavy calibre weapon in which the training ammunition is loaded to a firing pin for detonating the small arms ammunition.

At exercises with such ammunition in loading and aiming heavy calibre weapons it is possible to control the aiming by firing small calibre projectiles on the firing range.

Training ammunition of this kind suffers however from the disadvantages that the accuracy of the small calibre projectiles is very bad partly depending on the fact that the tolerance of the calibre of the bores of the heavy calibre weapons although small is suflicient to allow in certain cases the training ammunition to take an off centered position in the bore.

The invention, the object of which is to overcome this disadvantage, is broadly characterised in that the training round is provided near its front end with resilient supporting elements adapted to keep the training round in constant position in the bore of the heavy calibre weapon.

According to a preferable embodiment the supporting elements consist of arched segments disposed in an annular external groove in the training round and capable of performing limited movements in radial direction, the segments being controlled by springs tending to keep the segments in a position partly projecting outside the periphery of the training round.

An embodiment of the invention is shown by way of example in the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a training round according to the invention; Figure 2 is an axial section of the front portion of the round; and Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of the round on line III-III in Fig. 2.

The training round which has exactly the same shape and appearance as a conventional high explosive artillery round comprises a hollow cylinder 1, a tapering front piece 2 secured to a threaded end portion of the cylinder 1, and a socket 4 removably secured to the other end of the cylinder 1 and provided with a bottom 3. The socket is secured to the cylinder by means of a bayonet mount comprising two pins 6 secured to and projecting radially out from the end portion of the cylinder, and two angular slots provided at the free edge of the socket and adapted to co-operate with said pins, the axial portion of the slots being designated by 7 and the circumferential portion thereof by 8. A gun barrel 38 is centrally disposed within the cylinder 1 and projects into the hollow front piece 2. This front piece 2 is provided at its point with a centrally disposed opening 40 for the small arms bullets leaving the barrel. The chamber 41 formed by the cavity of the front piece 2 communicates rearwardly with the cavity of the cylice inder 1 through an opening 42 at the rear end of the front piece 2. The mouth of the barrel 38 is disposed at a distance from the opening 40 between the inner edge of which and front end of the barrel 38 there is an annular space 43 through which the chamber 41 communicates with the opening 40.

Between a ring 44 secured to the barrel 38 near its front end and a washer 45 slidably mounted on the barrel behind the ring 44 there is disposed a coil compression spring 46 which keeps the washer 45 frictionally pressed against the front surface of an internal flange 47 of the cylinder 1. The spring 46 keeps the ring 36 in contact with the surface 35 of the flange 34 during the positioning of the barrel 38 by means of four screws 48 located in radially disposed threaded openings 49 in the wall of the cylinder 1, said screws serving to secure the barrel in adjusted position.

In an annular groove 50 near the rear end of the front piece 2 there is rotatably mounted a ring 51, and to this ring there are secured four plate springs 53 by means of screws 52 passing through the central portion of the springs. The springs contact with their ends four arched segments 54 which are provided with notches 55 adjacent their ends at their concave side adapted to receive the ends of the springs. At their concave side the segment-s 54 are. provided with laterally projecting flanges 56, and the segments are retained in a position projecting partly outside the cylindrical surface of the training round by means of flanges 57 and 57a, respectively, projecting towards each other from the cylinder 1 and the front piece 2, respectively. These flanges 57, 57a are brought to embrace the side flanges 56 of the segments 54 as the front piece 2 is threaded onto the cylinder 1. When the training round is thrust home in a heavy calibre weapon the segments 54 are uniformly pressed down into the groove 50 against the action of the springs 53 thus centering the round in the bore of said weapon.

What I claim is:

1. Improvements in training ammunition for heavy caliber weapons which ammunition has a configuration similar to the cartridge for said weapon and contains a small caliber weapon for simulated firing comprising a training round having an annular recess provided in and extending laterally around the forward portion of the periphery thereof, a plurality of longitudinally arched members loosely positioned in and around said groove with each member occupying a segment of said groove, a plurality of resilient members each connected at its medial portion to said round within said groove and at its end portion to end portions of one of said arched members tiltably supporting said arched members and tending to move said arched members from said groove in a radial direction beyond the periphery of said round whereby said round will be properly centered when chambered within said weapon by said arched members bearing against the bore of said weapon and means limiting the outward movement of said arched members.

2. An improvement in training ammunition as claimed in claim 1 wherein said resilient members consist of a plurality of resilient elongated leaves extending lengthwise of said recess.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 34,493 Havens Feb. 25, 1862 552,090 Andrews Dec. 31. 1895' FOREIGN PATENTS 11,962 Great Britain 1901 436,868 Germany Nov. 11, 1926 849,997 France Dec. 5, 1939 

